As She Falls to the Ground
by LovinLife4ever
Summary: I was living the life every girl dreamed of. how could it turn into this? The answer? One word: Abuse. Sharpay centric. Major Troypay.
1. Not so Perfect

**Okay… so this is my first attempt at a fanfiction where abuse is involved. It will probably be either a twoshot or a threeshot. I know I could turn this into a full fledged story but understand that writing this was like a break from my other story. **

**Before you read this please note that there are some things about abuse that I will never be able to fully understand. But this is my take on it, please just read the first chapter and tell me if it sucks, okay?**

I shifted uncomfortably in the metal chair, I was in a small, dark room. I couldn't believe that I was here, inside of an interrogating room at the police station. How could all of this happen to me? Just a year ago I was living the life every girl dreamed of, good friends… great boyfriend, annoyingly lovable brother… and a functional family life. How could it turn into this? I lost communication with all my friends, my boyfriend and I drifted apart so he dumped me and went for my former best friend… they're currently in a one year relationship. And my annoyingly lovable brother… he wasn't quite at his best at this moment. The door opened, and a tall, plain faced woman stepped through the door.

"Hi, you must be Sharpay." She said, sitting across from me.

"Yeah…" I said, trying my hardest to smile back. She was talking to me like I was an eight year old, I didn't like being here at all, and she wasn't making it any easier.

"Look, I know this must be hard for you but just tell me exactly what happened this morning." She said, trying hard to sound sympathetic.

I closed my eyes, trying my hardest to get myself to say something… anything, just so that she would stop looking at me like I was a victim. I didn't want to be a victim, even though I knew I was one. "Sharpay…" The lady said, placing her hand over mine. I jumped, opening my eyes and straightening my posture. "If this is about your brother, he'll be fine. The doctors said that he should be waking up pretty soon."

I couldn't blame her for bringing up Ryan… she probably thought she was helping. It didn't help at all. It only brought memories of the morning flooding back to me…

"_Sharpay, we need to get out of here, someone have to call the police or something." Ryan said as him and his sister stood outside their father's bedroom._

"_You can't… he's our dad Ry. And besides, who will you tell? He is the police." Sharpay said in a hushed tone._

"_It doesn't matter… maybe just the negative attention will get some kind of back ground check filed, maybe he's hurt someone else too, do you really want to see this happen to someone else?" Ryan whispered._

"_Stop pretending to worry about it okay? He's never touched you, you're fine." Sharpay hissed._

"_Do you really think I pretend to worry when I see these everyday?" He asked, pulling up Sharpay's sleeve to reveal dark purple bruises lining her arm. Sharpay winced at both the sight and the pain that she felt on contact with them._

"_It's not as bad as it looks Ryan, it was an accident." Sharpay lied to herself._

"_Sharpay, it's not okay for him to come home drunk every night and just hurt you for no reason." Ryan said loudly._

_Sharpay gave him a look, the last thing they wanted was for him to wake up now. It was too late. "Go Ryan, he's awake, I don't want you getting into trouble."_

"_But Shar-"_

"_Just go!" Sharpay screamed. She covered her mouth quickly._

"_Sharpay? Was that you?" A voice came from the bedroom._

_Sharpay squeezed her eyes shut. "Yeah dad, I'm sorry, I was practicing for the school play, I shouldn't have gotten so loud." She prayed that the excuse would work._

"_Just shut up and get in here…now!" No such luck. She gave Ryan an apologetic look and opened the door…_

I snapped out of it when I heard a ringing sound… were cops allowed to take cell phones into interview rooms? Well this cop wasn't such a good interrogator in the first place so it wasn't that big of a surprise. "Listen, Sharpay… I can see you're uncomfortable, so how about you take a breather, jut sit out in the lobby for a bit, let all of this sink in." She said, obviously making excuses.

I accepted it none the less, anything to get out of this room. I got up weakly and headed to the door. Today could easily be named as the worst day of my life. I sat on the stiff couched in the lobby, they were only slightly more comfortable than the cold metal chair in the interrogation room. "Sharpay?" A familiar voice called. "Is that you?"

"Troy… what are you doing here?" I asked frantically.

"Um… my mom works the desk." He said with a shrug. I mentally smacked myself for not recognizing Mrs. Bolton when I saw her. "And what are you doing here?" He asked. I looked down, not knowing what to say. "Okay, so I guess you don't want to tell me then."

"No offence, but it's none of your business." I snapped, resuming defensive mode.

Troy (as always) didn't take it personally. He took a seat next to me and settled in, he was evilly persistent and I hated him for it right now. "That's alright, we don't have to talk about that." He shrugged.

There was a long, incredibly awkward silence. "So, how are things with Gabriella?" I asked as a last resort, my ex-boyfriend and my ex-best friend's relationship wasn't quite something I would usually bring up.

"Fine… just fine." He answered uncomfortably. We sat there in silence for another minute before Troy decided to start talking again. "Look Sharpay, I really hate that we never got the chance to talk about how it ended between us."

I was pretty much shocked at the sudden turn of this conversation. I managed to stay calm though, after putting my thoughts together I managed to answer. "Its fine Troy… you fell for someone else, I get it." I said, neglecting to mention that 'someone else' was my best friend at the time.

"That's not it." He said quickly. I looked at him for a second, since when did he get so serious? He was never like this when we were dating. "I don't know, last year it was like you weren't telling me something. You started freaking out at the most random things, and you would never tell me why. I was worried about you Shar." He said. All of a sudden I felt really guilty. Troy really cared about me, and I just threw it away because I was too much of a coward to tell him what was really going on. "I figured it had something to do with us… and I didn't want to be the one who was making you so paranoid all the time… so I ended it."

"Funny, you sure seemed to bounce back quickly." I said, but I immediately regretted saying it. He was being so nice and I was being so idiotic. "Listen, I didn't mean that-"

"No… you did." Troy said, once again surprising me. What exactly happened since we broke up? "The whole thing with Gabriella was just a huge mistake. We were both so we started talking… then we went from talking about you to talking about us… and before I knew it we were being voted cutest couple of the year." He said with a small laugh.

"But you two seem so… in love." I said, still soaking all of this in.

"Me and Gabriella? No way. I can't even imagine us being in love… it just isn't there you know?" He asked. I nodded, not quite knowing how to react. "So… um… I know where they hide the coffee around here, would you maybe want to come with me to get a cup?" He asked.

I looked up, just realizing what was going on. "Oh… um well, I'd love to, but…" I trailed off. I blushed, I sounded so stupid at that moment.

"No… it's okay, really. I shouldn't even have asked." Troy said, getting up.

"That's not it Troy, seriously, this has nothing to do with you." I rambled, knowing that I made no sense what so ever.

There was another long pause. It was just so awkward between us these days, and I hated that. "Listen, maybe we should just forget I ever said that." Troy said.

I nodded reluctantly and forced a smile. "Sure… let's just forget it."

Troy smiled and sat back down. "So, you never told me why you're here."

My smile faded, I almost successfully forgot about that. But it was too late, I was remembering again…

"_Do you want me to lose my job!?" Michael Evans yelled at his child._

_Sharpay looked down. "No…I don't, I was being stupid."_

"_Well I'm gonna lose my job if I don't get enough sleep! I'm doing this for you! Do you think you could have all your little Prada purses and Gucci sun glasses if I didn't go every day and bust my ass for you!?" He yelled in her face._

"_No… I'm a stupid, stupid kid. And I'm sorry I disturbed you, it won't happen again." Sharpay said, biting her lip and fighting her desperate urge to both cry and talk back. She knew they would both just make this harder and more painful._

"_You better be damn sure about that, because if not-" He didn't bother finding the proper word, instead he just demonstrated my whipping his hand across her already numb face. Luckily or her, she kept her balance, she knew if she fell that would earn her a few sucker punches that would hurt like hell. "Now let me sleep and if I hear a word out of you…" He trailed off, hearing something a bit more troubling._

_Sharpay listened too. 'Please don't do this now Ryan' she begged silently. It didn't work. She heard his voice loud and clear. "… Please get over here now, my father is hurting my sister and-"_

"_What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Evans stormed out of the room, violently pushing past Sharpay, to see Ryan on the phone. Instead of taking the phone back, he yanked entire cord out, disconnecting the phone line._

_Sharpay looked at Ryan worriedly. He had no clue what would happen now, he was being way too confident, but it was too late, she could only stay silent and watch now. "I'm protecting my sister." Ryan stated firmly._

"_That little slut? Why? She deserves all of this, don't you?" He asked, looking at Sharpay._

_She blinked back tears and nodded, she had no other choice. Ryan looked disgusted. "I already called the police, they're on their way here. You can't do this forever."_

"_Yes I can, I have the badge, no way will anyone believe you. I can do anything I want to this bitch." Mr. Evans said, motioning to Sharpay. _

"_They may not believe me, but this is a big enough accusation to start an investigation. And since the hand marks on Sharpay will match your hand you'll pretty much be sent to jail. I would have thought a cop would have been smart enough to cover that up." Ryan smirked. Bad, bad move. Mr. Evans lunged at him angrily, pushing him backwards… right down the stairs…_

"Sharpay? Are you okay? You just blanked out for a second." Troy said.

I rested my head in my hand, I had the hugest headache. "I'm fine, it was just that-"

"Sharpay Evans to room thirty four, I repeat, Sharpay Evans to room thirty four." A voice came over the intercom.

Troy gave me a puzzled look. I stood up. "I think I'd better go." I said quickly.

"Room thirty four? Isn't that an interrogation room?" He asked.

"I've really got to go now." I said, starting to walk away.

Troy grabbed me by the arm, gripping a bruise. Making it both excruciatingly painful and totally awkward. "Wait, are you in trouble or something? Are you okay?" He asked.

"Don't touch me!" I said loudly. Troy let go, looking worried. I stepped back and held my arm, it hurt really badly.

"Sharpay… I didn't mean t hurt you." He said, still sounding extremely worried.

"Well you did." I snapped.

"Is your arm okay? I mean, I didn't grab you that hard." He said. He took a step closer to me. "Let me see…" He said.

"No, get away from me." I said, squirming away.

"No! Let me see." He said, he got a hold of my wrist, and pulled my sleeve up quickly. He took a step back when he saw my arm, it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Sharpay Evans to room thirty four, I repeat, Sharpay Evans to room thirty four." The voice came over the intercom again.

I pulled my sleeve down. "I-I… I have to go." I said. I tried walking back down the hall as fast as I could but he followed me.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" He asked.

"Just leave me alone." I said, walking faster.

"What's with all those bruises?" He asked.

I turned around. "Look, this is exactly why I never told you anything when we were going out." I snapped.

Troy stepped back, I'll admit, it was a cruel thing to say, but I was desperate to just get away from him at that point. "Excuse me, but this is a closed wing. You have to leave." I turned around, the detective who was interrogating me (badly I might add) was actually saving my ass. I decided to let her do the talking this time, I didn't want to get myself into more trouble.

Troy gave me a look then turned around and left. There was no doubt anymore, this was the worst day of my life.

**Okay… so there is chapter one. I'll only have about three chapters to this so don't expect a novel. This is like, the third rewrite I did of this, I really wanted to see if I could write this because I'm usually not a very complex thinker. So just tell me if it sucks. FLAME AWAY!!! But constructive criticism and advice for improvements would be much more appreciated.**


	2. Where am I?

I walked to the door of the police station. Frankly, I didn't know where to go. I'd spilled my guts to the detective and now I was supposed to testify against my father. I remember her exact words. 'Don't you want him gone forever?' Well yeah… but I just simply wanted life to be how it was a year ago! My mom didn't leave, my dad was sane… and a great dad, Ryan wasn't in the hospital, and I had friends, and Troy… but I knew it would never go back to that. No matter what was about to happen, I knew that the next part of my life would be hell…

_Sharpay walked in the dark of night with her boyfriend's jacket and arms wrapped around her protectively. "I never knew Gabriella could throw a party." She said._

"_Me neither, it was actually pretty awesome. Everyone came… including the cops." Troy said with a laugh._

"_Just be glad that my dad wasn't one of them, trust me, I wouldn't be climbing out my window on a school night for years." Sharpay said, making the mistake of bringing up her father._

"_It's not my fault that Gabriella's mom was only away on school nights. And besides, you are way too cute for your dad to keep you inside." There was a long awkward silence, like they were both trying to figure out what to say to each other next. "I was wondering… is your dad okay? I mean your mom only left a week ago."_

_Another silence. "He's… fine. He's been a little depressed lately, but I think he's almost ready to accept that she's gone." _

_Troy nodded. "That's great, I know how bad things have been lately, I'm just glad that you're holding up okay." _

_Sharpay smiled, but instead of responding she looked down at her cell phone, 2:12. "Damn, my dad is going to kill me if he finds out that I was out partying this late." Sharpay said. _

"_Okay, see you tomorrow." Troy said giving his girlfriend a hug and a kiss on the cheek before letting her run across her lawn. She climbing up a tree then up onto the side of her house into her window. _

_She waved goodbye and blew a kiss from inside her house, before she could see what happened there was a knock on her door. "Sharpay! Unlock he door now!" She heard her dad shout, clearly hearing he alcohol in his voice._

_Sharpay barely had time to close the window before she ran to her locked room door. "Yes dad?" She asked._

"_Where the hell were you? I've been calling you for the past three hours!" He yelled into her face. The strong stench of vodka was so strong that she had to take a step back._

_He pulled her by the wrist forward. "Don't walk away from me!" He screamed through gritted teeth._

"_Okay, I'm sorry dad." Sharpay said quickly._

_Her dad grunted and slapped his daughter across the face. Before Sharpay could figure out what was going on she was pushed to the ground by her own father. He kicked her violently in the stomach and as she curled up into a little ball on the ground he began talking. "Look at you, all dressed up like a slut, you were probably out screwing teenage boys, all you women are the same!" He shouted before kicking her a few more times and watching in twisted pleasure as his daughter cried on the floor in unbelievable pain. "You're just like your mother… you're all the same." He muttered before leaving. _

_Sharpay lay motionless on the floor, crying, just wondering what happened. She felt pain all over before the room turned into shadows… the just shifting blobs until she saw nothing at all…_

I made my way to the hospital and entered it, I already felt like I was a not welcomed here. I had a black eye and bruises along my neck. I walked timidly to the receptionist, as she saw me coming up to her she almost looked afraid… of me. "Um, I'd like to see Ryan Evans… please." I asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry but no one is allowed to see Mr. Evans unless they are a blood relative." She said quietly.

"I am." I said quickly. "I'm his sister."

She gave me this look, like she was in awe, I guess she had heard the whole story. "Um… room 409." She said. "And be careful, he may not be completely stable yet." She whispered.

I nodded. "Thanks." I said quietly before walking off. I looked around for awhile, then I found the hallway that I was looking for.

I stood right at the door to room 409, not exactly knowing what to do. Do I knock? Or do I just go in? And what do I say? I shook it off and just opened the door. "Ryan?" I called.

To my surprise, Ryan was in bed, flipping channels on the TV. He turned, just noticing me. "Shar? Is that you? Are you okay?" He asked.

I ran over to him, giving him as big as a hug as I could (which wasn't that big, considering he was connected to a few tubes in his arms… none the less it felt great to know that he was okay). "I'm fine, but you're the one in the hospital. What about you?"

"I'm doing fine… I'm just glad that you're doing well." Ryan said, letting go of me. "So, how'd it go down at the station?" He asked.

"I told them everything, so now they want me to testify against dad, I don't know though." I said, sitting down in the small chair next to the bed.

"Shar, you should testify. Don't you want dad to stay away from us forever?" He asked, sounding a little angry.

"I just want things to go back to the way that they used to be." I said, knowing that I sounded totally pathetic.

"Sharpay… you know as well as I do that things aren't going to go back. So you need to decide if you want him gone or not." He snapped. I must have looked pretty taken back because Ryan took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Look… I didn't mean to be so psychotic, I'm sure you're getting enough of that from everyone else." He said, calming down.

"So, I saw Troy down at the police station. His mom works the front desk." I said, trying to change the subject, it seemed to work.

"You mean Troy as in your ex boyfriend who clearly still likes you but is still holding up that charade with little Miss Mathlete?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Okay first of all, little Miss Mathlete used to be a very good friend of mine and if I remember correctly, you weren't exactly this bitter about her back when she was single. And second of all, how did you now all of this?" I asked, even though what he was saying.

Ryan smiled. "First of all, is it some kind of enjoyment for you to burst my bubble? And second, I'm just here pointing out the obvious. Believe it or not Shar, dude is still totally head over heals for you. It's more of an obsession really, but you know Troy, can never get up the nerve to talk to you after you two entered splits-ville."

"Yes I do enjoy bursting your bubbles, and you're just being dramatic, Troy is with Gabriella, and they're in love." I said, choosing to not mention that Troy told me he didn't love her.

Ryan smirked. "Then why did he come down here an hour ago just to ask if you were okay?"

I looked up. "He did what? God! I should have known that this would happen!" I said loudly, now pacing. "I bet he asked his mom, or snuck onto one of the computers or something. Whatever he did it was so illegal-"

"Whoa… you're not thinking of suing the love of your life, now are you Shar?" Ryan asked, mocking me.

"Shut up Ryan." I said, trying to calm myself down. "Did you tell him anything?" I asked.

"Nope. But he is seriously worried about you." Ryan insisted.

I sighed, pushing a few strands hair out of my face. "You're right, I have bigger problems right now than Bolton stalking me." I said, trying to go back to icy mode.

"Look, you know that I'm not good at these girl talk things but I'm just wondering, why is it that when you start talking about Troy you forget all about the other shit going on in your life?" Ryan asked.

"You haven't tried to pull one of these girl talk things on me for a year… let's not break the streak." I said, still trying to keep the whole icy thing up.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever, but still maybe you should just think twice before cutting him out of your life again, think about it, he might not come back again."

Ryan sucked at girl talks… but he did make me think. Did I already stress how much this sucked? If not, this really, really, really sucked. No just because I had to go through this whole thing, it's because I had to go through this alone, with no one but my brother, who got almost fatally pushed down the stairs because he tried to stand up for me. And then there was Troy… who I only pushed away, even though he was one of the only people who I really felt safe with. What was wrong with me? It felt like whatever I did I was doing it wrong…

_Sharpay walked into East High with her hair messed up and her eyes red and puffy. She looked behind her and saw her boyfriend Troy approaching her. She walked faster, hoping that he didn't see her._

_No such luck. "Sharpay!" He called._

_Sharpay stopped walking and turned around reluctantly. "Hi Troy." She said, waiting a moment for hi to catch up with her._

"_Hey, are you okay? You look a little bit worn out." Troy said, putting his arm around her waist._

_Sharpay tried not to wince, but pain was pretty clearly showing on her face. "I'm fine… I was just up late studying and I slept in for a while."_

_Troy gave her a puzzled look. "But, midterms just ended, there are no tests or quizzes or anything." _

"_I meant studying my lines for drama club, now can we just drop it?" Sharpay snapped._

_Troy was a little taken back, but he just shrugged it off. Still, he was kind of worried for his girlfriend. "Shar… if something bad was going on in your life, you'd tell me… right?"_

_At first Sharpay had a strange look on her face, almost… guilty? But then guilt turned into anger. "Why do you just assume that something is wrong just because I stayed up late one night?"_

"_Chill Sharpay, it was just a question." Troy said quickly. "But you would tell me… right?" He asked cautiously._

"_Troy, would you just drop it?" Sharpay asked, obviously both scared and annoyed._

_Troy looked at his girlfriend. He knew something was wrong. What happened to the beautiful, fun loving, energetic, girl that he loved? And why wasn't she telling him? Troy was scared for her, and he waned to know what was going on. And the fact that she wasn't telling him about it only made him more scared. "Listen, I just want you to know that you can trust me if anything is going on."_

"_Troy, there is nothing going on, so would you just leave me alone for like, two seconds?" Sharpay shouted._

"_I'm just worried about you Shar… you're acting really weird." Troy said, attempting to put his hand on her shoulder._

_She pushed his hand away and started walking in the opposite direction. "Just leave me alone, okay? I need some space." She said, looking behind her then walking away._

_Troy just stood in the hallway, trying to figure out what just happened, she was fine a week ago, then she started acting all weird and distant. This wasn't like her at all. And it was making Troy really worried._

"Yo… Sharpay? Visiting hour is over and I'm pretty sure the nurses can get pretty violent when provoked, so I'd leave if I were you." Ryan said sarcastically.

"Okay, see you later Ry." I said before leaving the room. Then something occurred to me, I had nowhere to go. I didn't want to go home, it was empty, but it had to many horrible memories for me to count… it was off limits, and that was that.

Instead, as soon as I got outside I walked around for awhile, and got to the park. I sat down at the bench and rested my head in my hands. This was going to be a long night…

_I ran though my house, looking in every room. "Ryan! Ryan!" I called. No answer. I kept on running from room to room, desperately trying to find my brother. He wasn't anywhere, and the halls became more winding and maze like, I couldn't find my way anywhere._

"_He isn't here." I heard a dark voice say from behind me, I turned around frantically to see he towering figure that was my dad._

"_Leave me alone!" I cried, trying to run in the opposite direction. My dad grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me back, he had a sinister look in his eyes that made me stumble backwards and fall to the ground. _

"_You're worthless!" He yelled kicking me in the stomach. _

_I clutched my stomach, crying uncontrollably. "Please! Stop!" I begged._

"_And your brother Ryan? He's dead!" He shouted, slamming his foot into my stomach for a second time. "And you will die too!" My dad screamed, lifting his foot one last time. I squeezed my eyes shut, just praying that this would end…_

I shot up from the bed that I was on and looked around the room. "Where am I?" I asked myself.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you forgot what my room looks like already." Troy said from the doorway.

"How did I get here?" I asked, sitting up on the bed and pushed some hair out of my face.

"You fell asleep in the park, I carried you home and took you here." Troy said, walking over to sit next to me.

"Thanks, but I think I have to leave now." I said quickly before searching the room frantically for my shoes.

"Sharpay… you were creaming and crying in your sleep, what's wrong?" He asked. I took a deep breath, there was no stalling now. I had to tell him everything.

**Okay… thanks for the great support you guys, I think I've watched a few too many episodes of Law & Order SVU but it sort of does help, and the fact that I've been listening to the song Face Down by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus for like, two hours straight. I think I liked the turn out, but this is my second rewrite of this chapter. So, I've been thinking, and I might make this a full fledged story... and I may add more Troypay into it than I originally intended so I hope you guys are down with that, all I know for now is that it will be longer than three chapters like I wanted it to be when I started. I am such an unprofessional writer... So as usual, tell me exactly what you think, point out all the flaws if you want to, jut tell me what you really think. I'll try to update ASAP.**


	3. Not Now

**Okay, I'm sooooo sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I lost my flash drive and I had to do a bunch of rewriting and school started… but anyways, I just read tat Cassie Steele (Manny from Degrassi) originally got the part of Gabriella bit opted out because she was too busy. She is a much better actress than Vanessa, so I just had to share that… I couldn't believe that after all that 'Vanessa was born to be Gabriella' crap she was the second best for it. Wow… Now for the story:**

I looked around the room, sort of looking for an excuse to get me out of the situation I was currently in. "I…" I started, I guess I must have sounded pretty stupid/pathetic/like a total abuse victim because Troy sat down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I tried to stop myself from flinching (my shoulder was where I usually landed after my dad pushed me down) but it didn't work out that well.

"I'm sorry." He apologized quickly. "I just… thought you could use some comfort."

I'll admit, a part of me totally melted (despite the cheesiness of that line) when he said that… but can you blame me? I mean, I completely hated myself for letting what was happening with my dad tear us apart… and we were a great thing. But I couldn't do this… not now. "What I could use is someone who doesn't carry him to his house in my sleep." I snapped, hating myself even more.

"You were asleep on the park bench, what was I supposed to do?" He asked, still all calmly.

"Um, hello Einstein! How about waking me up?" I said, a little more loudly than necessary. Troy blushed… he obviously hadn't though that one through. Did I mention how much I hated myself at that moment? It was like I was watching someone else say everything that I was saying, and I was screaming at myself to stop but I didn't. "Troy, just leave me alone and stop stalking me! I don't need you and you're just being stupid to think that I do!"

I could tell that I'd gone too far when I saw the look on Troy's face. I knew that look well. It's the kind of look that you get when you find out that your mother… the only good parent that you've ever known just left you and your brother for a better life and you'll never see her again. And the same look you get when you find out that your dad blames you for the whole thing. "Sharpay, you were at the police station, and you're hurt. There is something that you have to tell me. It doesn't matter what I just did or how dumb it was of me to do it! You have to tell me what's going on Shar… I love you."

It was at that moment that I really saw what I was doing. I really could only say that there were only two people on earth who actually cared about me. One of them was in a hospital… and the other one was sitting right next to me. And I was pushing him away. "I-I'm sorry." I said, closing my eyes, and only then realizing that I had been crying. "For everything… I never meant any of what I said. God! I'm so stupid!" I sniffled wiping tears away from my cheeks.

"No… you're not stupid. You just need someone." He said quietly. He carefully put his arms around my waist, softly pulling me closer to him. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel pain.

XxXxX

I told Troy everything. I had to, I mean, I couldn't keep hiding it much longer. I remember how when I told Troy about it… every detail, he would get this angry look in his eyes, something I'd never seen before in him. It sort of made me feel safer, like for once, that look wasn't being given to me. I know the logic sounds totally dumb, but it really did help me. I don't know how but it did… Anyways, He simply told his mom that I would need a place to stay for a while. I guess she must have pulled my case file or something because she didn't ask questions, she just gave me a smile and said 'sure' as if it wasn't a big deal at all. She was really helpful though, she gave me Troy's room and Troy (very graciously) took the guest room. She even went over to my house to pick up my clothes and stuff, she pulled a few strings down at thee police station and they let her go (with police escorts of course). She said that she figured it would be traumatic for me to go because walking up the stairs, and seeing everything exactly how it was left would bring everything back. She couldn't have been more right. I guess she must have seen a thousand teenagers like me before, I mean she worked at the police station.

Anyways, the next day was Monday and since the case was still in the works, I got to go to school. Joy. I went outside, to get the news paper, wearing Troy's wildcat spirit week shirt from last year and a pair of sweatpants (Mrs. Bolton was bringing back my clothes at the moment, I had nothing else to wear, okay?). I was picking up the paper when a convertible car ran bye. They went fast, but I could see that there were at least two kids from East High in it. I ran inside and locked the door behind me. The chances were slim that they saw me, but it scared me enough having to go to school. And besides, the shirt was short sleeved, what if they saw the bruises? I couldn't have this get around school! I ran up to Troy's room and sat on the bed, I felt sick, like I was about to throw up.

"Shar? Are you okay?" Troy asked standing in the door way. He meant the whole 'I love you' thing in a strictly platonic way, but I didn't mind… that much.

"I can't do this… I can't go back to school." I said, resting my head in m hands. I felt like the room was spinning, and I wouldn't stop.

Troy sat down next to me and pulled me closer to him without hurting me. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, not intending to open them again. "It'll be fine… no one is going to know about any of this… and I'll be right there with you." He said, rubbing my arm softly, he had figured out where it hurt and where it didn't, he was very good about it too.

"You're right… I'm probably just over reacting." I said into his shoulder.

"Yeah, come on, my mom will be back any minute with your clothes. Go take a shower while there's still hot water left." Troy said with a smile.

"Yeah… sure." I said, trying to put up as much of a smile as I could.

"Okay, I'll be across the hall if you need me." Troy said, pointing to the guest room.

I smirked. "I know where the room is Troy… it hasn't been _that_ long since I've been here."

"I know… I'm just glad you're here now." He said before leaving.

That made me smile, I mean, who wouldn't smile at that? It probably didn't help that I still liked the guy… a lot. But still, anyone would smile at that, I just smiled a little bigger than most people would. Anyways, I got up and took a shower. I really didn't go to school smelling like a police station. By the time I finished, Mrs. Bolton had put my clothes in my room. I decided to wear jeans, a plain black tank top and a love bat hoodie (A/N the love bat stuff is Pete Wentz's design, though I do totally resent the guy, I have to admit the design rocks) since I still had visible bruises on my arms and legs.

I took the bus to school, Troy wasn't picking Gabriella that morning, but I thought I would be better if no one asked why I arrived with him when for al they knew we haven't even said to words to each other since like… last year. The weird part was, when I got to school, it felt like everyone as staring at me. I kept on trying to tell myself that I was just over reacting and that everyone was looking at me like they usually did, like I was the popular princess turned depressed loner. They were probably just wondering why Ryan wasn't with me, I mean, we were usually together every second of the day…. Right? No. Not with my luck.

I walked over to my locker and a group of people approached me. I tried my hardest not to freak out about it, but when someone tapped me on the shoulder, I was on the verge of a heart attack. I turned around quickly and was glad when I saw Gabriella. "Oh… hi Gabriella." I said.

"What do you mean hi? After what you did to me you just say hi?" She snapped, sounding like she was about to cry. Okay, I knew that she was a bit over dramatic, but this was just… um, psychotic to say the least.

"Um, sorry, but I'm not quite following your logic." I said slowly, trying to avoid an eruption from Mt. Gabriella.

"Don't play dumb… Hannah Vanhorn saw you at Troy's house this morning. And I'm guessing that you spent the night." I guess it really wasn't the bruises that they were worried about. More that I was at someone's boyfriend's house.

"His mom invited me to stay over because… my house is being fumigated." I said, trying to think of a legitimate excuse.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "According to Hannah you were wearing his T-shirt! And besides, who am I supposed to believe? One of my best friends or the girl who thinks that she's too good for everyone?"

That sort of pissed me off a little, I man, why did she always have to be the center of attention and point fingers at every one who dared to get into her way. This was nothing new… she was like this even when we were friends. "Will you just stop acting like you know everything? Nothing happened, just ask Troy, hell, ask Troy's mom, she'll tell you nothing happened."

"Look, just because you want to go sleeping around with other people's boyfriends doesn't mean that I have to lose a relationship over it. What you and Troy had? Yeah, it's over and it's never coming back. And whatever you and Troy had last light? It was an incredible lapse of reason on Troy's part, I'll find a way to forgive him though, you on the other hand are a conniving bitch. And I don't see any reason why I should put up with that." Gabriella said, in an incredibly bratty voice.

"Listen, I don't care if you go around school spreading rumors that I screwed the English teacher for an A on my midterm or that I'm the 'emotional vampire who is out to steal every girl in school's boyfriend.'" I said, imitating Gabriella's voice… there was an uncanny resemblance.

Gabriella just smiled as if she had some kind of super-snob force field. "For your information, Troy and I are in love, and no little desperate, jealous, self obsessed slut like you can take that away from us."

"So you guys are in love, huh? I'll believe that when I hear it from Troy." I snapped.

Gabriella got this really angry look in her eyes. Then seemingly out of nowhere, she pushed me into the lockers. And hen you've been kicked repeatedly in the side, these catfight things really, really, **really** hurt. I bit my lip, trying not to reveal that I was in so much pain. "Look, the little slut can't even take what she had coming." Gabriella laughed, followed by a chorus of laughter by the people behind her.

"Gabriella! What's wrong with you?" I heard a familiar voice say.

"Troy, I was just clearing things up about us to the little bitch on front of us." Gabriella said with an evil smile (you know the one I'm talking about).

"Just leave her alone, okay?" Troy asked, pushing Gabriella away and helping me up. "I heard the rumors too okay? But nothing happened… I'm serious."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy and giggled. "Why are you defending her Troy? You're in love with me… not her! Right?"

Troy paused, then gave her a serious look. "Gabriella… we can talk about this later, but, we should really think before we go around and saying that we're in love."

"What's there to think about? We've been going out for a year." Silence… the worst answer he could give. "Troy… you're not serious are you?" Silence again. "This isn't about her is it? I should have seen this coming."

"This isn't about her Gabriella… this is about us. And before you go around hurting people because of us, at least talk to me first." Troy said, lifting Gabriella arms off of him. And I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't in total and complete shock, I would be laughing… but that's a little harsh. Troy turned to me. "Sharpay, we need to talk." He said before walking off.

And at that point, I didn't think, I just followed. Troy pulled me into an empty classroom. "What just happened?" I asked.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened with Gabriella." Troy said, ignoring me. "She doesn't know anything."

"I figured that when she started babbling about love." I said rolling my eyes.

"You don't deserve any of the crap that she said." Troy said, still ignoring me.

"I've been hearing a lot of that lately." I muttered, maybe a little louder than I intended.

Troy turned around looked at me. "What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath. "Look, do you know how many times my dad played the whole 'I didn't know what I was doing, you're better than this and it won't happen again' card? Only it never stopped."

"Shar… it's not like that, you know I'm not like that." Troy said, walking closer to me.

"It's not you that I'm worried about… it's her. She's hated me since before this started, now she actually has a reason." I said looking down.

Troy lifted my chin. "Nothing is going to happen…" He said softly. And for a few seconds, we were just standing there. And then we moved closer, and then we were kissing. And (I know this is cheesy) it was like we weren't at school any more, or any where for that matter. It was like I wasn't me… I was someone better than me, and I wasn't in this situation. But at the same time… it had to end.

And when it, I feel like I was about to faint. "I can't do this… not now." I said. Walking out of the room and closing the door behind me.

**Okay, first of all, thank you so much for al the positive feedback. I know the plot is different than all the other 'Troy walks in on Gabriella/Sharpay getting beaten up by her 'perfect' boyfriend' abuse story, mainly because that rarely happens, and really, the whole thing isn't accurate. I mean, it would take a lot for someone to start trusting anyone after something like that, even this story is pushing it. And really, so much happens after the abuse that these stories never deal with. I just hope I can do it justice. I don't really like the way I wrote this chapter, tell me what you think, okay? And please be brutally honest FLAMES ARE APPRECIATED!!! Well, bye for now.  
**


	4. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

Okay, you guys, so I know I haven't updated in like, forever. And I blame myself for that. I started this story as a three shot and hadn't intended for it to be a story, now that it is I have no clue where to go with it! Dropping it completely may be a pretty good option... so would handing it over to a different author who could give it the time it deserves. So basically what I'm saying is that it's a possibility that this story has ended before it has had a chance to begin, which is sad because I know that it could turn out pretty good. So if you have any good ideas, or if you're interested in taking this story on, just PM me.

DON'T FREAK OUT YET!!! I promise that if I do decide to end this story I'll let you guys no for sure and not keep you waiting.

And if you are interested in taking the story up PM me (and while you're at it, can you please be patient with the whole passing a story to a different author thing... I'm pretty naive in out of the loop on all the inner workings of this site).

I thank you for your patience and support,

-LL4E


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